Analyse
Studies from organizations like the **Economic Policy Institute (EPI)** and **McKinsey Global Institute** confirm that expanding childcare, eldercare, and home health services can generate jobs (e.g., EPI estimated ~500,000–1M new jobs under certain proposals) and improve wages for low-paid care workers. However, the 'millions of jobs' figure assumes ambitious, long-term funding (e.g., the *Build Back Better Act*’s original $400B for care infrastructure, which was later scaled back). The claim also conflates *potential* outcomes with *guaranteed* results, as implementation hurdles (e.g., workforce shortages, state-level adoption) could limit impact.
Achtergrond
The **care economy**—encompassing childcare, eldercare, and disability services—was a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris administration’s 2021 *Build Back Better* agenda, which aimed to address systemic underinvestment in these sectors. Pre-pandemic, the U.S. care workforce (disproportionately women of color) earned poverty-level wages, while families faced unaffordable costs (e.g., childcare averaging **$10,000/year** per child). The statement reflects broader economic arguments that public investment in care can stimulate GDP growth by increasing labor force participation (especially for women).
Samenvatting verdict
Harris’s claim about the *potential* economic and social benefits of investing in the care economy is supported by research, but the scale (e.g., 'millions of jobs') depends on specific policy designs and funding levels not yet fully realized at the time of her statement.